His name is Wego

The dog - not the kid. We bought this dog for the kids for Christmas in 2002. I know this dog - really well - probably better than anybody should know a dog.

Two summers ago Ryan decided to take Wego into the pool. We aren't talking "oh don't they have a nice, huge, in-ground pool." We are talking - "oh look, they bought an 18" high wading pool for those kids to splash in." Or in this case, "for those kids and one 3 pound, easily tired out dog who can only doggy paddle for so long and can't get out of the pool and the kids are ignoring the dog and the dog drowns kind of pool." Truly drowns. Deader than Abe Lincoln dead.

I am in the kitchen in the comfort of my air conditioned house when Jacob runs in holding this quite dead dog and yells for me to come quick. Of course being a dutiful mother I do and I round the corner to see Wego as limp as cooked spaghetti, dripping water everywhere and Jacob is yelling for me to save him. Uh, yeah - ok, sure is what I am thinking.

Knowing that Bill is going to be back home in about 10 minutes, I am NOT going to be the one to tell the kids that their dog is dead. So I grab the deceased animal from the hysterical boy and send said boy to grab a beach towel. I sit down at the table and as I look up I see a sight that I knew would haunt me forever. Carly, Wesley and Ryan peering in through the dining room window - tears rolling down their cheeks. So I did what every good mother would do in this situation.

I gave the dog the "breath of life." I laid him on that towel and started chest compressions and rescue breathing. I knew without a doubt that I would be doing this till Bill walked in the door and pronounced him dead in his most official EMT voice. I was thanking God that Bill had taken EMT classes at AK Steel, because the kids would believe him when he told them I had done all I could.

Jacob is standing at my side crying and praying out loud. "Oh Lord, please don't take our pet. I am too young to have an animal die. I can't deal with this. We all love Wego. We didn't mean for him to get hurt. Please save him, God. I know you can bring him back to life. I'm begging."

I'm trying not to bawl at his heartfelt prayer while I have a dog's mouth and nose stuffed into my mouth. I wipe my eyes during the compressions and danged if after a few minutes that stupid dog didn't start choking and coughing up water. Then a minute later he is slowly lifting his head and looking at me with those big brown eyes and in that instant I am transformed into "Supermom."

Wego recovered - but not without a trip to the emergency vet because of course it had to be a weekend. After his overnight stay there, he went to our local vet for a 4 day stay where he could get Lasix treatments to get the water all out of his lungs.

So, this dog cost 400 to buy another couple of hundred to get fixed and to have his shots and then about 500 for not being a marathon swimmer. He is 8 weeks shy of being 3 yeas old and is still not potty trained. I gave up after about 9 months without any success and talked Wesley's caseworker into "adopting" Wego with the promise that we would Wego-sit whenever needed. It's really the best of both worlds for us. He comes to visit and play with the kids but he is not our full-time responsibility. Here is a portion of the email that I got from his new owner the other day.

Hello Perri and Kids,

Is it still ok for Wego to come for a visit? His parents are leaving town and he needs a loving home that will put up with him. He will be arriving Thursday around 8:00. He is looking forward to peeing and pooping in your home........ he is doing much better but is not perfect..

So Wego is here for a few days. He just puked in the laundry room where I had him while we went to the library. Better stay out of trouble because there is no CPR today puke breath - you're on your own.